Client story: UniCredit

How UniCredit’s CIB teams increased efficiency and freed bankers to work on higher-value work, using UpSlide.
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Team
Financing and Advisory
Industry
Investment Banking
2020
UpSlide partnership began
Most used features
Excel to PowerPoint Link Dynamic Tombstones Library Content Library
Objective
Digitalize and streamline daily operations, specifically around pitching. Increase efficiency, freeing bankers to focus on higher-value, more rewarding work.

UpSlide should result in shorter working hours, or at least more productive ones.

Our teams are happier when they’re being productive, doing high-value work and learning, instead of formatting and copy-pasting.

Quote author picture
Muge Mentes
Head of CEEMEA Debt Origination

Context

UniCredit’s Financing and Advisory division provides simple access to capital raising, financing and advisory services for international clients.

Their teams spent a lot of time creating pitch decks, and management became concerned about the inefficiencies of this heavily manual work.

Challenge

  • Productivity

Too much time was spent on manual, repetitive work such as sourcing relevant content, updating data and formatting. Work was often duplicated unnecessarily.

 

  • Accuracy

These constant manual updates introduced the potential for human error, especially in such a fast-paced environment.

 

  • Satisfaction

Too long spent on these lower-value tasks meant less energy and time for more creative, challenging work, which not only adds value to clients but is more fulfilling for bankers.

UpSlide user
Project Sponsor
IT Manager
Project Manager
Job title and project role
Peter Dieler, Associate Director, DCM. An administrator user of UpSlide, responsible for managing content which is added to UpSlide Library for colleagues to use.

UpSlide frees up time to concentrate on the real pitching activity. It eliminates the time spent organising the pitch, checking and proofing – you can rest assured that part is done correctly and instead concentrate on idea generation and adding value.

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Peter Dieler
Associate Director, DCM
How is UpSlide helping you?
  • Time saved

“Before UpSlide, we had no way to link data in our Excel models to PowerPoint, and relied solely on copy-pasting. If the bond price changed, for example, we had to update that in several places manually. Now we can update all that data at once thanks to the Excel to PowerPoint Link.”

  • Improved accuracy

“Through the automated updates, UpSlide has enabled us to increase speed to the customer while at the same time reducing the potential for human error.”

  • Better collaboration

“Previously, if you needed a photo or a credential for a pitch, this would involve a long email chain with colleagues to locate them. Having the centralised Content Library cuts out this unnecessary frustration, and we can save emailing for more important topics.”

Most-loved features

Excel to PowerPoint Link

Link all of your tables, charts and commentary from Excel to PowerPoint and instantly update as data changes
Learn more

Dynamic Tombstones Library

Filter and insert relevant deals then insert perfectly formatted tombstones - all within PowerPoint
Learn more

Content Library

Use one central source to store and distribute approved, brand-compliant content, throughout Microsoft Office
Learn more
Job title and project role
Muge Mentes, Head of CEEMEA Debt Origination. Designated person in Debt Capital Markets to investigate different tools which could bring digitalisation and streamlining to day to day operations.

We ran an exhaustive analysis for possible solutions in the market and UpSlide came out as best-in-class.

It’s going to be a real game-changer for us.

Quote author picture
Muge Mentes
Head of CEEMEA Debt Origination
How did you find working with UpSlide?

“The UpSlide team were able to understand the needs and priorities of each team, which meant everything they presented was very relevant.​

The team were also very available, and the bank felt fully supported throughout. Sometimes complex projects like this can take some time, but the team maintained the same momentum and energy throughout.”

How is UpSlide helping?

Unlocked efficiency

“Our workflows are much more streamlined; for example, teams can now link their Bloomberg data from Excel to PowerPoint pitchbooks, then update it automatically. Before, too much time was spent on things like proofing and formatting; UpSlide will eliminate that.”

Centralisation of content

“Aside from making it easier and faster for teams to find slides, tombstones and images, the Content Library enables us to maximise our best content by making it widely available to more teams across the business.”

Improved quality

“We can now make sure that teams have access to impactful and accurate content, from both a content and visual perspective. This also helps ensure consistency across pitches.”
Job title and project role
Marcin Stefański, Application Analyst. Responsible for leading the application through a rigorous security approval process to ensure it didn’t pose a threat, application-wise, network-wise, or for user data.

This was the fastest and smoothest onboarding of an application that I’ve seen. ​This project really stands out; the team were tremendous.

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Marcin Stefański
Application Analyst
What are the strengths of the UpSlide application?
  • Ability to host ourselves

“It was great to have the app run on PC and not some network or cloud service; this sped up the process of getting approval and understanding what the app does. Being able to store library content on our own SharePoint servers is a huge plus.”

  • Reliability and ease of maintenance

“The UpSlide application is very reliable. It sets a high bar for other applications.”

  • Close alignment with Microsoft Office applications

“This meant most of the components were already on the machines. When we package the application, there can be issues with dependencies; in this case, we only had to worry if the user had MS Office, and most did.”

How did the UpSlide team make your job easier?

Excellent communication throughout

“UpSlide really took care of the structure of the project, leaving us to focus on our core tasks. The communication was perfect throughout; I loved working with the UpSlide team – I don’t think I ever left a call without a smile on my face!”

Responsive and effective solutions

“Every solution or workaround came quickly and almost always worked the first time; that doesn’t happen a lot. The team went the extra mile to help.”

Support throughout the security process

“This is the best experience I’ve had with a vendor so far. The UpSlide team were extremely helpful; the info we needed was readily available, and they gave fast, detailed explanations where necessary.”
Job title and project role
Daniela Asam, F&A Business Development. Responsible for ensuring that the UpSlide tool was rolled out smoothly to the business teams.

It’s been a pleasure to work with UpSlide. Their expertise, professionalism and excellent communication throughout have really helped the project run smoothly.

Quote author picture
Daniela Asam
F&A Business Development
How did the UpSlide team make your job easier?
  • Professional project management

“Our weekly meetings were very structured and productive, and you really got the sense that the team were very well aligned – each person always knew exactly what the other was doing.”

  • Agility and problem-solving mindset

“As often happens with projects like this, some hurdles arose along the way. One example: realising we had an old version of SharePoint. The team were very solution-focused and responded quickly with a viable workaround which kept the project on track.”

  • Impactful user training sessions

“The UpSlide team ran several sessions for both users and admins based across Europe. They were very well structured, tailored to the teams’ needs and very practical; the users were very happy and were able to get to grips with their new tool quickly as a result.”​

The UpSlide project

The UpSlide project team worked closely with UniCredit to ensure the tool was fully customised to the needs of their teams.

 

“The software itself was great, but the biggest positive was that UpSlide spoke our language. They were able to interpret

what users needed, even if the users didn’t articulate it explicitly; they really understood what we needed to automate,” according to Tanu Tuli, Digital Transformation CDIO CIB.

 

They also worked closely with UniCredit’s IT team to ensure their strict security criteria were met and with Central Marketing to ensure the compliance of branded templates.

We ran an exhaustive analysis for possible solutions in the market and UpSlide came out as best-in-class.

 

It’s going to be a real game-changer for us.

Muge Mentes, Head of CEEMEA Debt Origination

Partnership with UpSlide

“Often, people want to talk, but UpSlide wanted to listen. They were able to really understand our use cases from early on and were committed, proactive and solution-focused from the outset.”

 

Tanu Tuli, Digital Transformation CDIO CIB

Impact

UpSlide streamlines our processes to generate efficiencies, not just within teams, but across them. As more teams get access, the value-add will become huge.

Now teams have easy access to content via the Library, and receive materials from colleagues in a consistent format, it will eliminate unnecessary email chains and the duplication of work.

Productivity

Firstly, UpSlide improves the accuracy of our deliverables by automating manual updates to reduce errors.

But more importantly, the time saved can be spent on idea generation and adding more value for our clients.

We’re in the 21st century; things should work like they do with UpSlide. It’s a great tool; I’m really glad we’re using it.

Quality

These efficiency gains will not only benefit our clients, but they will also unlock energy and potential within our teams for creative thinking.

This is much more fulfilling for our bankers, especially juniors, who feel like they are developing new skills and being more productive with their time.

Satisfaction